One of the more novel MDV's that I have reported on took a course that happens not infrequently to large verdicts as, Appeals court overturns $1.5M verdict to woman spanked at work. See my initial report here. It marks a second bleak turn of events for the spankee as she had originally settled for $1.4, but the insurance company refused to pay. Now the appeals court has thrown the verdict out because the jury instruction was faulty, failing to require that the harassment (including the spanking) had to occur "because of her gender."

Although her attorney optimistically hoped that on retrial the verdict might be even larger, according to the lawyer who defended the case the company has since gone into bankruptcy and its insurance has been exhausted battling Orlando's claim and settling with three other co-workers, so there may be little left to recover.

Yet another reminder that MDV's are not the end of the world, although they no doubt feel like it at the time.